The use of tablets and books should be balanced
By Lindsey Schibelhut.
I remember when tablets first became a craze; I didn’t understand their appeal or purpose, so I swore to myself I’d never buy one. Then as time went on the purpose to the public became clear – you could download multiple books to read and carry them around conveniently while traveling. Now schools are considering replacing textbooks with tablets for their students. For this I would have to agree, but we shouldn’t forget the ways of old as we do so.
Whether we are replacing textbooks in K-12 schools or even college, tablets for every student would be beneficial. No longer would students have to carry an entire backpack full of overpriced (sometimes non-returnable) paperweights, when they could just drop a tablet into their bags and go. It would even be nicer if schools would give incentives to students (i.e. discount eBook/textbook prices) who choose to go the paperless route.
School issued tablets would probably also benefit people or families who cannot afford to purchase them. We all know most school assignments today rely on computer and internet access and this would give people a way of having the means to access that information – as long as the issued tablets are protected against inappropriate materials.
Those are just some positives I can think of regarding replacing textbooks with tablets.
However, in the same regard we shouldn’t forget old technology as well. Nothing pains me more than seeing YouTube videos of babies trying to poke a magazine (thinking it’s an iPad) in the hopes that something amazing is going to happen. If a tragedy were to strike our electrical grid either by nature (i.e. flares from the sun) or a man-made act (i.e. EMP- Electromagnetic Pulse bomb) where would we be then? We would have to rely on physical books once again.
One other issue with tablets happened in 2009 when Amazon Kindle users noticed the copies of their George Orwell e-books were deleted. Amazon claimed the copies were from publishers who did not own the rights to the books, but it still made consumers upset to see them remotely removed from their devices. This is another reason why physical books are a better idea than digital in certain cases.
So while we still have technology like tablets, we should use them for the convenience of not breaking our backs. But we shouldn’t throw books out with the bathwater either- we never know when we may need them. There is room in this world for both paper and digital, there just needs to be a balance between the two in our daily lives.
Nostalgia > The Future
By MaCayla Jablonski.
There have been rumors about tablets replacing textbooks in schools for what seems like years. I vividly remember the rumor running around my middle school. I was ecstatic. I mean, could you imagine how great it would feel not having to wear your heavy book bag every day? Thinking about it with an adult mind, tablets replacing textbooks sounds like a horrible idea.
First of all, let us ponder the high probability of damage that comes with giving children in grades K-12 tablets. I’m 19 years old, and I have dropped and cracked the screen of my phone at least twice. Do you think a 7-year-old cares enough to be careful with an expensive piece of technology? I don’t think so. Not to give all little kids bad reputations, but the probability of a 7-year-old taking better care of their tablet than I take care of my phone is unlikely.
Replacing tablets with textbooks would only contribute to the technology takeover. I don’t mean to conjure my inner elderly woman, but I want my kids to experience life outside of technology. We as humans rely on technology an embarrassing amount. Do the future generations need to learn to rely on it at such a young age?
Technology was invented to make life easier, and it has. However, I think we use it more as a distraction than anything. I can’t go to one family gathering without my 5-year-old cousin asking to play games on my phone. Switching textbooks for tablets at such a young age will force kids to create a stronger dependency for technology.
If textbooks are eliminated in schools, what are the odds kids will continue to enjoy reading books? I don’t mean eBooks purchased online and read on your Kindle. I mean real, paperback, thick, incredible books. You’re not going to be able to get a kid to read a book after giving them a tablet. Once that happens, they will never be able to experience the nostalgia that overwhelms you when you smell an old book.
They’ll never be able to feel the sheer excitement of getting down to the last couple pages of the book you haven’t been able to put down. I have grown my entire life with a book in my hand. I’ve gone through every Goosebumps book, to the Harry Potter series, to John Green, to Edgar Allan Poe. Reading books has changed my life. It’s helped me grow up. I’m afraid switching textbooks for tablets will deprive children of the experiences they need to grow as individuals.
